The Best -- and Worst -- Movie Trailers of the Week

If you’re still feeling the effects of your Thanksgiving food coma, you’re in luck! It’s time to sit back, relax, indulge in the top trailers that hit this holiday week and get a quick laugh at the expense of those that didn’t make the cut. Island of Lemurs: Madagascarearned some major cute points courtesy of its adorable, high-flying stars, but three other promos offered up a little bit more to be thankful for.

The Best Stuff

1. The Boxtrolls

Perhaps someone should make a movie about stop-motion animation artists because the latest trailer for The Boxtrolls is downright mesmerizing. Rather than focus on the finished product, this new promo offers a look behind the scenes, showing off the astounding amount of time, precision and heart that goes into each and every frame of the film so by the time the piece does show off completed footage, the added insight will make you appreciate it tenfold.

2. Gimme Shelter

If Vanessa Hudgens expired your patience with Bandslam, Beastly, Sucker Punch and Spring Breakers, give her just one more chance. Not only is she nearly unrecognizable in the new trailer for Gimme Shelter, but she also gives the role her all, and to great effect. Even in the context of a two-minute-and-25-second trailer, Hudgens manages to turn Apple into a character you both believe and care for.

3. Enemies Closer

Two Jean-Claude Van Damme trailers in one week? I hope you stopped to acknowledge how thankful we should all be for that. In all seriousness, both Welcome to the Jungle and Enemies Closer have an unusual campy, B-movie appeal. Welcome to the Jungle could suffer from hit-and-miss jokes, but based on this first promo, Enemies Closer could be brimming with visceral action and unforgettable one-liners, and what more could you want from an action film featuring JCVD rocking such outrageous hair?

The Worst Stuff

1. Cymbeline

The new trailer for Michael Almereyda’s modern spin on William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline shows off some striking imagery and a star-packed cast, but for someone with no knowledge of the source material, the promo doesn’t offer much more than that and it’s too bad. Even just a little story could have tipped the scale and solidified Cymbeline as a film worth seeing.

2. Tarzan

I hate to keep picking on Constantin’s Tarzan, but when you’re trying to go up against Pixar, Dreamworks, Disney, Blue Sky and Laika with animation like this, you’re asking for it. And the visuals aren’t even the only problem here. On top of that, the voice work feels totally unnatural, either due to poor delivery and/or editing, and the story is just completely ridiculous. Tarzan and an alien object? If only we could experience the meeting where the higher ups gave that idea the thumbs up.

3. Hercules: The Legend Begins

Poor Kellan Lutz is having a tough week as far as promos go. Even though the new trailer for Hercules: The Legend Begins is brimming with pretty pictures, they’re impossible to appreciate because you’re too busy comparing them to 300. This trailer needs more Hercules, and not sword-wielding, half-naked Hercules. Prove that the narrative is a riveting, fresh spin on the legend and that will make those visuals the film’s own.

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